


We Are the Crystal Gems

by justatinyfox (BloodyRenegade13), Periwinklediamond (BloodyRenegade13)



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Multi, and at least two different dogs, baby's first work, best if enjoyed with snacks, contains many headcanons, fluffy chapters and serious chapters, pretty much everyone, who let me tag this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-16
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 02:14:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5439671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodyRenegade13/pseuds/justatinyfox, https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodyRenegade13/pseuds/Periwinklediamond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Howlite was a strange gem, that was obvious. Naturally, Steven would immediately take to her and want to be friends. Looking back, it was all so natural when Howlite showed up. But when more gems start taking their places on the stage, they all slowly realize that some other force is at play, that something darker lurks just beyond the horizon, and they’ll all have to rely on each other to face the coming storm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prelude

**Author's Note:**

> Well, well, well. Welly well well. Well welly well well, well well welly. here we are. This is it. this is the thing. We're doing it. The thing. Is what we are doing.  
> *ahem*  
> Thanks for clicking on this. The first three chapters are the pilot chapters, so if you guys like them, Periwinkle and I will write more. That being said, please let us know what you think, we'd love to hear from you!  
> Okay, let's get this show on the road...

It was a very pleasant day in Beach City. Not too hot, for a summer’s day, and gulls rode on the cooling sea breeze. Big, puffy white cotton clouds drifted lazily along in the azure sky, with the grasses and flowers nodding their heads at them. It was a rather normal day, and all the townspeople went about their daily lives.

The same could be said for Steven and the Crystal Gems.

Pearl was sent flying by a quick sweep of the tremendous beast’s tail. The teal tortoise monster let out a roar as Amethyst sprang at it, its singular crystal eye glinting. She, too, was knocked away by one of its massive claws.

“Pearl!” Garnet called.

Righting herself and shaking sand out of her hair, the lithe gem nodded and responded with “Right!”

Garnet picked her up, and launched her like a javelin at the tortoise. Pearl managed to land a heavy hit on it’s jaw, sending it reeling. This gave Amethyst an opening to tie up two of its legs and trip it. The creature teetered for a moment, before beginning the fall, directly towards Amethyst.

She took a step backwards, staring up at the colossus, and let out a small “Oh, shoot…”

“Steven!” Garnet and Pearl cried in unision.

He had darted out in front of Amethyst, looking very determined.

The monster landed with a thunderous eruption of sand on the two, promptly poofing.

Garnet and Amethyst rushed over to where Steven and Amethyst had been. They let out a sigh of relief upon seeing a cracked, yet very much intact, pink protective bubble encasing the two, buried into the sand. The bubble dissipated, and Garnet helped the two diminutive gems out of the crater, which was quickly filling back up with sand, as Pearl bubbled the large gem.

“Nice work, Steven!” Amethyst congratulated him as Garnet set him down.

He laughed. “Good thing I got there in time, or you would’ve been an Amethyst pancake!”

The purple gem grinned and said, “You mean like… THIS?” She quickly melted into a flat, circular blob with a face, stupid grin still plastered on it, and Steven laughed harder.

Pearl, however, was not amused. “Steven, that was very reckless, “ she scolded. “You could’ve been seriously hurt!”

“But Pearl,” the boy protested. “If I hadn’t done anything, _Amethyst_ could’ve gotten hurt!”

Pearl was about to say something else, but was stopped by Garnet’s hand on her shoulder. “Steven did a good job,” she said, “even if he did take a big risk.”

Pearl sighed. “I suppose so…”

“Yeah, Pearl, stop being a stick in the mud,” Amethyst muttered.

“ _I heard that,_ ” Pearl hissed.

“Uh, hey, the gem’s bubbled, so, why don’t we all go get smoothies?” Steven suggested nervously, in an attempt to break the tension.

“Aw, yeah, **smoothies!** ” cheered Amethyst, turning all of her attention away from Pearl.

“Alright, Steven,” said Garnet, picking him up and putting him on her shoulders. “Let’s get smoothies.”

Steven bounced up and down excitedly, giggling.

They made their way down the beach, making idle conversation. Suddenly, Steven rose up to stand on Garnet’s shoulders, supporting himself with one hand on her hair, and pointing with the other at the sky. “Guys, do you see that?!”

The three gems all flicked their heads up towards where Steven was pointing, Garnet catching Steven as he began to fall.

A bright object was shooting across the sky, very visible despite the shining sun, making holes in the clouds it passed through.

They watched it land in the direction just outside Beach City limits.

“...That’s odd…” Pearl remarked thoughtfully.

“Should we go check it out?” Amethyst asked, looking up at Garnet.

She paused, and took Steven off her shoulders. “Sorry, Steven,” she said, “Looks like smoothies will have to wait.”

 

The Gems were unsure of what they would find as they approached the crash site. Steven had been speculating nonstop for virtually the entire trip.

“Maybe it’s _Cookie Cat!!_ ” he cried.

Amethyst groaned. “Steven, that’s the _fourth time_ you’ve said that.”

“It could happen,” Steven said matter-of-factly. “I just have to keep believing.”

Garnet stopped, causing Steven to bump into her. “We’re here.”

They were standing at the rim of a large crater, still smoking from the impact. A large amount of steam rose from the centre, which gave off the same ethereal glow they saw in the sky.

Steven was first to slide down into the pit, quickly followed by Garnet, and then Pearl and Amethyst, the last of whom tripped halfway down and ended up tumbling into a sitting position at the bottom.

The child was about to run forward to investigate, but Pearl held him back.

“Steven,” she said, “We don’t know what that thing is; it could be dangerous.”

“That’s why I’m going first,” added Garnet, starting to walk towards the meteorite. She was engulfed in the steam for a few moments, before sticking a hand through the cover to beckon the others closer.

As the remaining three approached the centre, the air temperature rose several degrees. Steven could feel the back of his neck prickling with anticipation. What would they find? What if it was something bad? Steven suddenly felt very nervous.

Pearl, walking ahead of the other two, gasped as she saw the object. “ _Oh my stars…_ ”

Amethyst rushed forward, excitedly saying, “What is it, what is it?” She stopped as soon as she saw it, and the excitement disappeared in an instant. “Uuh, Garnet…?”

“I know,” said the maroon gem.

“W… what do we do with it?” Pearl asked, trying to mask the waver in her voice.

As the Gems quietly talked, Steven took the opportunity to peek around them at the meteorite.

It was a large, crystalline structure, that looked both natural and artificial at the same time. It gave off a luster of many hues, all changing and morphing like a soap bubble, and Steven guessed it was from the heat from entering the atmosphere. Enraptured with the object, which was beginning to seem more and more like some form of space pod, he crept closer to it.

Through the glassy, reflective surface, he could see someone. Not a human, though. In fact, he would have thought they were a human, if not for a few features.

First of all, they were small- smaller than Steven- and almost looked like a child. Their tiny body was covered by a cloak that, quite frankly, looked too big on them, and its hood covered their eyes, leaving only the bottom half of their face and a few locks of stone grey hair exposed. They also had unnaturally pale skin, a pristine white, like (with no exaggeration,) snow.

 _They look like they’re… trapped,_ Steven thought, and, without thinking, reached out towards the meteorite.

“ ** _Steven, no!_** ”

Pearl’s warning came too late. Steven, his palm flat on the surface of the object, looked up at Pearl as the thing started to shine brilliantly, before exploding into thousands of fragments of light.

Everyone was knocked back. As the light died down, the four attempted to regain their composure.

Steven was the first one up. He hurried back over to where the object encasing the tiny humanoid had been.

There they lay, as peaceful and quiet as they had been inside the rock. Like they were sleeping.

The Crystal Gems were down there before Steven could breathe a sigh of relief.

“We should just bubble it before it can cause any trouble!” Pearl said.

Amethyst scowled at the pastel gem. “Oh, sure, make _everything_ a threat,” she growled.

Pearl was taken aback by her hostility. “Amethyst, it would be safer if-”

“ _But we don’t even know_ who _it is!_ ” Amethyst yelled. The emphasis on “who” made everyone pause, tension crackling in the air.

“Amethyst,” said Pearl, trying to control her frustration. “We can’t just let it- _them_ \- go. They need to be bubbled to prevent any disasters.”

“That was your excuse for Lapis, and look what happened!”

“Amethyst,” Garnet’s voice was stern to the point of harsh. “ **That’s enough.** ”

Amethyst looked at Garnet, taking  a breath, but bitterly looked away in defeat.

Garnet reached for the pale figure on the ground.

“Stop!” Steven stood on the other side of them. “Garnet, Pearl, please! Don’t bubble them, they didn’t do anything!”

Amethyst smirked at Pearl, who only glared back in response.

“Steven, it’s for the best,” Garnet explained, “We’re only trying to protect everyone.”

“B-but…” Steven struggled. “You have Future Vision, you can tell whether they’re good or bad!”

She adjusted her shades. “I can only see _possible_ futures; some of them say they're good, some say they’re bad.” Garnet paused. “I don’t want to risk them turning out bad.”

“But we don’t know they’re bad! Just give them a chance!”

The tall gem sighed. It was clear that Steven would not budge on the matter. She glanced over at Amethyst and Pearl; Amethyst nodded, Pearl shook her head. Looking back at Steven, she asked, “What do you think we should do?”

The boy’s face lit up. “Let’s take them back to the house!”

“The house?” Pearl repeated.

“Yeah! So they can feel at home when they wake up!”

Garnet knew she would never be able to argue with Steven when he was set on something like this, partially because she had a soft spot for him, but also because he could be very stubborn.. He was so much like his mother in that respect- he would never allow someone he believed to be innocent to get hurt if he could help it.

“Alright,” she said after a pause, and watched Steven’s face flood with relief.

Pearl blinked. “Garnet! A-are you sure?” Garnet nodded, and Pearl bit her tongue. She was a loyal gem, she would never go against the final word of whoever was in charge. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t have reservations about it.

Amethyst, on the other hand, appeared smugly contented with Garnet’s decision. However, she was wise enough, after Garnet’s earlier reprimand, not to rub it in.

Garnet picked up the small, pale gem. Her first instinct was to throw them over her shoulder like a sack and carry them that way, but Steven would object to that. So she chose to tuck them under her arm instead. “Let’s go.”

Steven ran ahead, clearly excited, and Amethyst had to go help him up the crater rim. Garnet started after them, pushing both of the struggling gems over the rim before jumping up herself. Pearl lagged behind for a moment, worrying. She world agree with Garnet, that was guaranteed. But she couldn’t agree with taking a strange gem home like this. The incident with Jasper was still very fresh in her mind, even though it had been some time since, and she could tell it was the same for Steven. He was so torn up about Lapis… maybe that’s why he couldn’t let them bubble the gem. Pearl took a deep breath. She knew she could never express enough how much she cared and worried about Steven, despite… No, she couldn't think about that. She took one last look at the crater, and noticed the vehicle the strange gem had arrived in had a diamond symbol engraved on the side.

"Come on, P!" Amethyst yelled from the distance. Pearl steeled herself, and followed her friends out of the crater.


	2. That "Whole New World" Smell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a big, bright, beautiful new world. Maybe not so much for Howlite, but she's interested nonetheless to learn about this place.

Steven had told Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl to wait downstairs until the newcomer had woken up (they could be a bit… aggressive… with strangers).

Amethyst groaned, rolling over to hang her arms off the couch.. “How long is this going to take?”

“As long as it has to,” replied Garnet.

And they went back to waiting in silence.

However, Steven was quite busy, rearranging the things in his room for the upteenth time, trying to give the space the optimum amount of friendliness.

He was reorganising the action figures on his windowsill (again), carefully scrutinizing their positioning, when he heard sudden movement to his left. His head flicked over to find that the small gem was sitting bolt upright, and appeared to be staring straight at him.

He stared back for a moment, then looked back at his action figures, and pushed one of them to the right a few centimetres with one finger.

Standing up, he said “You’re awake! H-hi!”

The gem leaned forward slightly, as if trying to get a better look at Steven despite the hood that covered their eyes. In a light, wispy voice, they asked, “What are you?”

Steven blinked, and decided based on the octave of the voice decided that the gem was a she. “I’m Steven.”

“Is Steven a gem? You don’t look like it.” she said, tilting her head to the side.

“No, I am, see?” Steven pulled up his shirt a little ways to reveal his gem. “But I’m also a human, too, sorta.”

The stranger paused, then asked, “What’s… a ‘human?’”

“They’re the things that live on this planet,” Steven answered. “Kind of like gems, but not, they’re more like animals, I guess. It’s… it’s hard to explain.”

“Oh.” she said simply. “Who are they?”

“Who? Humans?”

“No, the other three gems.” She pointed downstairs.

Steven looked to where she was pointing. “O-oh… That’s Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl, but… Why don’t you tell me your name first before you meet them?” he suggested.

Again, the small gem paused. “...It’s Howlite.”

“Nice to meet you, Howlite!” Steven held out his hand, and was confused when she didn’t take it. “What’s wrong? Don’t you know what a handshake is?”

“No,” Howlite replied, shaking her head. “What is it?”

“It’s a thing we do on Earth when we greet people,” Steven explained. “Two people join hands and shake. Like this,” Steven took Howlite’s small hand in his and shook it lightly. “Nice to make your acquaintance,” he announced in his dramatic voice.

Howlite giggled, causing Steven to beam. “You’re weird,” she said. “I like you.”

Steven let go of her hand and asked, “Do you want to go meet the other gems now?”

“Okay.” Howlite rose and hopped off the bed, following Steven to the stairs. Upon reaching the edge, she looked down over the staircase. Steven stopped midway down and turned to look at her. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she said, and started to rise into the air until she was about a foot off the floorboards.

Steven was delighted. “You can fly?!”

“Sure,” Howlite replied.

Steven grinned and raced down the rest of the stairs, Howlite floating behind him. The Crystal Gems became much more alert when they spotted her. “Everyone, this is Howlite,” Steven announced, motioning to said gem. “...and she seems really nice!”

Garnet, stoic as ever, said, “Nice to meet you,” a bit too monotonously.

“You too,” replied Howlite with a slight nod. There was a bit of silence as the two parties examined each other, Steven hoping to find a glimmer of hope for friendship in his guardians’ eyes. But the three gems were very guarded, Pearl looking for any signs of danger, while Garnet and Amethyst seemed to gaze through her. All too aware of the silence, Pearl gritted her teeth and clapped her hands together.

“Well! You know I always say ‘The more the merrier’, haha!” Pearl continued fake laughing for an uncomfortable amount of time, Howlite staring at her with a blank face. Amethyst glared up at her, and Pearl cut off laughter.

“Yeah, what Pearl said. But, uh, seriously dude. Where did you come from?”

Howlite tilted her head slightly. “What do you-?”

“Oh, it was so cool, you should have seen it!” Steven interjected. “You came out of some sort of space rock that fell from the sky right into Beach City! Thankfully, it was pretty far away, so no people got hurt. But it came from nowhere!”

“Beach City?”

“Oh yeah, I guess you wouldn’t know. You landed here on Earth!” The Crystal Gems exchanged nervous looks, ever wary of other gems learning of their location. “How did you get in that rock? Did you crash here? Is there any way we can help you get home?”

“Steven,” Garnet said. “I think you’ve asked enough questions for today.”

“But-”

Garnet shot him a very slight look, but he got the message. Howlite, however, had become unresponsive. Her gaze was turned toward no one in particular.

There were a few awkward moments of silence following, until Garnet announced, “I have things to do,” and walked outside.

“Eeeyeah, not like it’s not great to meet you, er… Howlite, buuut, I’m really bored,” said Amethyst, rising from the couch and stretching. “I’m gonna go eat garbage.” With that, she, too, left for the inner Temple.

Noticing that Howlite was still visibly uncomfortable, Steven offered, “Hey, Howlite, if you want, I can show you around Beach City.”

“Actually, Steven, I’d like to talk with Pearl for a while.” When Steven didn't take the hint, she added, “ _Alone._ ”

“Oh.” He looked a little disappointed, but quickly smiled and said, “Maybe later, then. I’m gonna go get that smoothie!”

“...smoothie?” Howlite muttered in confusion at length. She then turned back to Pearl, who was still agitated. “Earth, as in… _Kindergarten_ Earth?”

Pearl hesitated, then gave a singular nod. “Y-yes.” She could feel the atmosphere stiffen.

“...How long has it been active?” asked Howlite.

Again, Pearl paused, confused. “Earth… and the Kindergarten, have been abandoned by Homeworld for a long time.”

Howlite’s head jerked up. “What? How long?”

“Many thousands of years,” answered Pearl, frowning. “...Who are you?”

It was Howlite that paused this time. “I told you. I’m Howlite.”

“Yes, but who _are_ you? ...How long have you been in that pod?”

Howlite didn’t respond.

Just then, Garnet burst back through the front door, carrying Steven under her arm. “Pearl! We have to go!” she cried, dashing over to the Warp Pad.

Pearl seemed a bit stunned at first, but hurried over as Garnet set Steven down.

Amethyst stumbled out of her door in a rush, practically falling onto the Warp Pad with her comrades.

As the Pad activated, Garnet looked at Howlite and said, very sternly, “Don’t leave this house.” And just like that, they were teleported away.

Howlite wasn’t sure what to do. Of course, she didn’t know how things worked here, and she didn’t know how long she had been sealed in her pod.

And as much as Garnet was intimidating, wouldn’t it be better to look around and get herself acquainted with her new surroundings? After all, it wasn’t like she would be going anywhere anytime soon.

And so, she left- well, she got to the door, but wasn’t sure how it worked, so she used her powers and phased through it.

That was something very unique about Howlite- she was gifted in powers such as levitation and ethereal manipulation- meaning she can fly and make herself all ghosty-like. Her kind had been very useful fighters and assassins before…

Well, she didn’t like to think of that at the moment.

She meandered around the beach, pausing when she caught sight of large, angular structures.

 _What is this place?_ she thought. It then occurred to her that this must be that “Beach City” place that Steven mentioned. She saw something outside of one of the structures, which she guessed was one of the “humans” that Steven had also mentioned, but decided it would be better not to interact with it.

As she turned to leave, she thought she saw it turn to her, but she was gone too quickly to care. She wandered around the outskirts of the city for a good fifteen minutes, before starting to notice that something was… off.

Something wasn’t sitting well with her. There was something here that… shouldn’t be. Something tortured, something menacing.

Suddenly, there was a great rumbling coming from below her, and she shot up just as a huge carapacial maw surged up from beneath the sand and closed where she was hovering not a moment before.

The thing sank back into the sand. Howlite realized that she couldn’t let it disturb the town- from what she saw, the humans that lived here were grossly unprepared to deal with something like this. Howlite had to get it away from them.

She materialised her weapon - a scythe, longer than herself, with an impressive blade to match- and waited for the monster to resurface.

Howlite could see it, moving underground. A large spider-like creature, sporting ant-like mandibles, clawed feet resembling that of a lizard, and a long reptilian neck. It was using its claws to tunnel through the earth in a U shape. Coming back towards her. There came the quaking, and as the monster surfaced again, she darted backwards towards the ocean. Predictably, it followed her out of the sand. Grimacing at it, she continued to lead it away from the city.

Finally, she came upon a rocky part of the beach. _Good,_ she thought, _it won’t be able to tunnel as well here._

She saw the monster coming up quickly behind her. Quickly, she whirled around and shot underneath it’s large abdomen. The creature hissed, and leapt up into the air to turn completely around.

Seeing her chance, Howlite positioned her scythe and flew up, the blade crashing into the gem on the monster’s chin. There was an audible crack, and the monster was poofed.

Dematerialising her weapon, Howlite caught the gem as it fell, and looked at it.

It was much bigger than her hand, but only seemed like a part of something else, like half of it was missing.

“Hold it!”

Howlite spun around at Garnet’s voice and saw the four of them running up to her.

“What’s going on here?” Pearl cried.

Howlite motioned to the gem in her tiny hand and said, “This thing attacked me. I led it away from town and poofed it.” She held out the gem.

Steven took it, and, looking at it, remarked, “It looks like the other half of the alligator-spider we were fighting before.”

Howlite felt proud of herself. She had taken down the same kind (more or less) of monster that they had, and she had protected the town, to boot!

Garnet did not look as pleased. “I thought I told you to stay in the house.”

Immediately all of Howlite’s pride evaporated. She could feel Garnet’s eyes burning into her, and it made her feel guilty, like a gemling who was being scolded by her matron for misbehaving. Howlite stuttered, thinking of what to say. “Um… well, y-yes, you did, but, I, um…”

Garnet sighed for the upteenth time that day. “It was fine this time. You did take out the gem monster. But if you’re going to stay here I expect my rules and orders to be followed, understand?”

Howlite nodded. _Anything to get on your good side._

“How did you manage to beat it by yourself?” asked Amethyst. “It took all three of us to take the other one down.”

“Oh, I can always see it,” Howlite explained. “Even underground, and through walls, I can see things.”

The Crystal Gems looked at one another, then turned back to the curious little gem.

“How is that?” Pearl asked.

“How about I explain it when we get back to the house?” replied Howlite, “Because I got a little lost out here.”

Pearl gave her a look. “I expect you’ll be doing a _lot_ of explaining when we get back.”

Howlite involuntarily gulped.

Steven, as always, began to lighten the mood as the group started back. He was excitedly jogging beside Howlite, asking her questions and telling her about a little bit of everything.

“So what was the monster you fought like? Ours was like a lizard, but with spider legs! And it shot out webs from the tip of its tail, did yours do that? OH, over there, that’s Beach City! I guess you’ve already seen it, huh? I’ll take you around later, it’s getting kind of late now…”

Howlite felt herself smile at the sincerity of the child’s naïvete, and found herself genuinely looking forward to the next few days with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've ever seen Galvantula, imagine that crossed with some kind of mole-alligator-snake and you know what you're working with. For its counterpart that the CG's fought, just imagine all the parts are opposite, like spider feet (?) where the lizard ones were.  
> Also, sorry if the fight is awkward, it's baby's first.
> 
> Remember to leave us any comments, concerns, questions, cute pictures of hamsters, spaghetti recipes, and sound, supported arguments on why Mewtwo is the best Pokemon ever. Thank you!  
> This chapter brought to you by Skeleton Spaghetti Co.: WE'RE THE BEST! NO BONES ABOUT IT!!!


	3. Living Relic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Crystal Gems learn more about Howlite.

The Gems were sitting on the couch, all eyes trained on Howlite, who was perched on the coffee table on her knees, hands resting neatly in her lap.

The pale Gem adopted a sheepish look and said, “Maybe this would be easier if you asked me some questions.”

Steven’s hand shot up. “Ooh ooh, can we start with that thing you said about seeing through walls?!”

Howlite almost chuckled, and replied, “Sure, alright, we can start there...

“You know how some organisms identify their surroundings by sending out supersonic waves and listening back to their echoes?”

“Echolocation, yeah,” said Steven.

Nodding, Howlite continued. “Yes. It’s quite a lot like that, only telepathic. I call it Spectral Reading.” She paused when Steven “ooh”ed. “In basic terms, I’m constantly sending out telepathic waves that return to me when they hit something. They can also go through solid matter, like walls and the ground, so I can see through them, but the distance the waves go depend on the density. It gives me a sort of sphere of vision.”

Pearl was enthralled. “Fascinating…”

“But how can you tell if something’s a gem or not?” Amethyst asked, brushing some crumbs of something or other off the couch.

“Well, humans and animals and living things of that nature give off a heat signature that I can read, but gems are a little different. Each gem has their own wavelength that my wavelengths can read; depending on the frequency, I can identify the gem, and any cracks or… corruption in them.

“Which is why Steven confused me,” she added. “He gives off a heat signature, but he also has a very strong gem wavelength.”

“So what about fire?” Steven said, resting his head on the table and looking up at Howlite in wonder. “Can you tell how hot fire is by looking at it?”

“No, I can only read the heat signatures of living things.”

Garnet finally piped up and asked, “What if you float too high up?” (In Pearl’s retrospect, Garnet probably already knew the answer, but wanted to direct the conversation in the way she wanted.)

“If I fly up too high, there’s nothing for the waves to bounce back against, so I can’t see.”

“You can’t _see?_ ” asked Pearl.

Howlite hesitated, like she was shocked lightly. “It’s… Well, let me show you.” She lifted her hood.

Underneath was a puffball of wispy grey hair, which faded into black as it approached her neck. Her messy bangs hung just above her eyes, and a single tuft of hair stuck up from her part. Each one of her facial features were petite to match her small form, apart from her eyes, which were larger and could be described as doll-like. Her irises was what made everyone take in a small breath - they were pale and cloudy, and laced intricately with dark grey veins of colour.

“You’re _completely blind_ … aren’t you?” Pearl said.

Howlite nodded in return.

“How did that happen?” asked Steven. The way he said it, how much compassion and sadness were packed into those four words, spoke volumes. This child truly cared and felt pain for someone he had only known for a few hours, and she could tell he would want to try anything to somehow make it better for her. Howlite almost choked up for a moment at his sincerity, but swallowed it and began her story.

“I’m… I’m not sure how long I was adrift in space, but it wasn’t that long ago for me.

“You know how we have the Diamond Authority, headed by Yellow Diamond, yeah? The Tyrant Diamond. Well, I and a group of rebels had been planning to overthrow her; even if the other three crushed us in the end, at least we would’ve started a movement, made a statement, you know?”

Howlite paused for a moment, waiting for one of them to object in some way, but no one spoke. She realised that she would have to keep going with her story until the end, and it made her fidget uneasily. What if these gems killed her for attempted regicide? But, then, she thought, why were they exiled to this planet? She took a deep, shaky breath and continued.

“We infiltrated the Golden Fortress on the day of the planetary alignment. They must’ve anticipated us coming, because they had really buffered the guard force. We lost several gems getting in, but we had all agreed that we would do whatever it takes, and we had all accepted that we wouldn’t make it out. The way we had planned it, the other gems would do all they could to get our strategist and I to the throne room. It had worked, but… we lost everyone on our way there. When we finally got to it, she- my strategist- had told me that Yellow Diamond was _my_ fight, and that she would hold off the guards.”

Howlite again paused, swallowing hard. “I never saw her again. I went in, and Yellow Diamond and I fought… She overpowered me fast. she chipped my gem, and I blacked out. Then I woke up in a prison cell; my vision had completely gone. I was left in the dark. I think they filled in the chip in my gem with something, like marble, to keep me crippled that way. They kept me there for Cosmos knows how long, several days I guess, conducting my trial. I didn’t even see the courtroom. If it wasn’t obvious, I was sentenced to exile for eternity. Yellow Diamond thought that would be a more fitting punishment than death.

“During my time in the dungeon, I taught myself how to see the way I do. I would practice with the guards, monitoring their patrols, seeing how far I could track them. Even still, I never saw my home, never saw my friends again. All I was able to do was wait to be encased in the Meteor Crystal and jettisoned out into space, to become nothing more than debris floating indefinitely. Guess it wasn’t so indefinite, though.” She looked up at her audience.

“And now you know who I am.”

Everyone was quiet. Nobody really knew what to do next, and Howlite, quite honestly, was too scared to act.

At length, Pearl said, “You mentioned, earlier, the Kindergarten.” Amethyst shifted uncomfortably at the name. “And you asked me how long it had been active. You would have to have been in that pod for many thousands of years if you didn’t know of its deactivation.”

Howlite  opened her mouth to say something, when suddenly, Garnet spoke up again. “How much do you know about Rose Quartz?”

Howlite tilted her head to the side in thought. “The name sounds familiar… Why, has she done something of importance recently?”

The three Crystal gems looked at each other. “She doesn’t know about Rose,” Amethyst, stunned, whispered as quietly as possible.

Pearl said in an equally quiet voice, “But that would make her _tens of thousands of years old!_ ”

Garnet replied, “Then maybe it’s better she doesn’t find out.”

Steven either seemed to know what the Gems were discussing in hushed voices, or simply didn’t think to tell Howlite what little he knew about his mother’s past. He climbed up on the coffee table next to Howlite and said, “I’m sorry you had to do all that,” He hung his head. “And I’m sorry there’s nothing I can do for you. But as long as you’re here on Earth with us, you can be a part of our family too.”

Howlite was taken aback. “Family?”

“Yeah,” All of the Gems were listening now. “You can live here, and we’ll teach you about Earth, and you can meet my dad, and we’ll all go on missions together and take care of each other!” Steven, who had become more and more excited with each word, turned to his guardians for affirmation. “Right?”

“I don’t think we have a choice,” Garnet said.

Pearl quickly glanced at her, then nodded and said, “We swore to protect every good thing on this planet. You seem to be good, and you’re definitely on the planet…”

Amethyst sprang up, cheering, “Awright, new shorty on the scene!” She leapt in between Steven and Howlite and put an arm around each of them, grinning widely.

_They seem excited,_ Pearl thought, watching the three. She still had her reservations. More than she could count. There were so many risks to this, to Steven, and Garnet of all people knew it, but she just let Howlite stay in _Steven’s house,_ just like that. Surely, this meant that she couldn’t see many futures, if any at all, where Howlite would become a problem, right? Maybe this was one of those times where she would just have to let whatever happens, happen.

Howlite, on the other hand, was relieved and confused and nervous all at the same time. These strange gems, none of whom she had known for more than a day, had accepted her into their group and allowed her to reside here for the time being, just like that. She had nothing to give back to them, and she felt guilty. She had left out some major details in her recounting of her past. Maybe she wouldn’t have to keep it a secret forever, she considered, focusing on Garnet for a moment. _They seem, at least, to be very reasonable gems. Maybe it won’t be like Homeworld._

Howlite couldn’t help but feel, however, that something was afoot. That something big was about to happen, but she couldn’t quite place what. What she did know was that, at this point, whatever she had to do…

It wouldn’t be easy, but she wasn't going to do it alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya know how Toph "sees" with her feet? It's kind of like that.
> 
> So that's the end of the pilot. If you liked what you saw, and want to see more, be sure to leave comments, questions, concerns, rate, comment, subscribe, support us on Patreon, Audible has over 150,000 books.  
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**Author's Note:**

> For those of you wondering, I imagined the monster to be a teal-coloured combination of Anguirus, Tortomon, and Basaran, with a singular optic that also happens to be its gem.
> 
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